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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. board — a committee
  3. pop — music
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. roll — a list
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. pop — soda
  8. rush — hurry
  9. roll — a cake
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. season — in sport
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a document
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. board — to get on
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. file — a tool
  18. drill — army training
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — a practice
  22. season — of the year
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. pop — to visit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com